The Kennedy Space Center

I was interested in visiting the Kennedy Space Center to observe the differences between it and the one in Guyana. Owing it probably to the proximity to the Disneyland, the KSC visit feels like one to an amusement park: rides, 3D theaters, special effects, popcorn, restaurants and so on. Nobody was wearing an astronaut’s suit, though 🙂

The bus took us to an observation deck, to an old Apollo control center and to the cargo preparation area for the shuttle program. Besides those, there are many full size mock-ups, including a shuttle, the Saturn V and other rockets and sections of the International Space Station.

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One of the cargo preparation areas. Occasionally, alligators could be seen in the canals like this one

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The Apollo command center

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Saturn V mock-up and other exhibits

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The Lunar buggy, also a mock-up

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Some of the first suit designs

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Inside the cargo preparation area

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The toilet aboard the International Space Station

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The ISS lab

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The shuttle cargo bay with the payload, mock-up

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The Florida keys

From Miami I continued South towards Key West. The road is very scenic. There are long bridges that connect the islands, side by side with the decommissioned bridges that now serve for jogging or fishing. Eventually I arrived in Key West, a popular tourist destination for families and elders (fourth picture). Many restaurants, clubs and shopping locations. Not my style, so I left without spending too much time there, but not before visiting the Southernmost spot of the continental USA (last picture). In the background you can see a Cuban listening to Radio Havana (located just 150km South), bringing him memories from his hometown that he haven’t visited since fleeing in 1980.

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Florida

I arrived safely in Florida, after a stopover in Aruba. Since the distance from the passenger terminal to the cargo area was around 10km, I had to rent that funny looking car just to get there 🙂 To clear the customs I had to hire a customs broker. The forms were simple but I didn’t have a computer nor the time to find a way to download & print. Then I replaced the oil and the gasoline, which had to be removed prior to flight due to safety regulations.

The second thing that I purchased in USA was a Olympus SP-600 digital camera (the first one being a gallon of milk, of course!) so from now on the picture quality should improve.

I’ll post the last pictures from Suriname, followed by some from Florida, as soon as I have a convenient way to do it (Fedex Kinko’s is ruining me with $.20/min…)

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